Fine and Gross Motor Skills Development in Children of Amish, Inuit, and Indigenous Communities

Amish Children - Early Motor Skill Development

From an early age, Amish children help their parents do their daily work and along with doing useful work, they master their motor skills and acquire the sense of danger that enables them to be independent in their living environment.

It is natural for older peers and siblings to take care of the safety of younger children. Under reasonable supervision of older siblings and peers the Amish children, from an early age, learn not to be hurt and learn vocabulary and social skills.

1. Amish children do not play on bouncy castles and other inflatable devices. They do not master their ability to walk or run on a treadmill or stationary bike.

2. Amish children master their motor skills by playing outdoor games that involve siblings and peers.

According to inconclusive reports, no Amish child is affected with autism. There are reports about incidences of autism among Amish children that are also inconclusive. However, even by taking those inconclusive reports seriously, compared to the general population, the incidence and prevalence of autism among Amish children are far below the national average.

It is very likely that the nonexistence or lower prevalence of autism among Amish children is because of the absence of stationary bikes, treadmills, trampolines and inflatable bouncy castles and from an early age till adulthood, they have the opportunity to develop motor and social skills necessary for everyday life in their surrounding environment.

Inuit Children - Early Motor Skill Development

Inuit children don’t play on an inflatable castle or on a trampoline. They play traditional children's games outdoors. They learn and master walking, jumping and landing skills, catching and throwing skills etc. in their natural-real-living environment.

Inuit children acquire and master motor and social skills by playing traditional children's games and by doing collective work.

“In a recent report Fombonne, et al., state; No case of autism has ever been reported in an Inuit child in the past 15 years”

Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2048743/

It is very likely that autism is unknown among Inuit Children because of the absence of stationary bikes, treadmills, trampolines and inflatable bouncy castles and from an early age till adulthood, they have an opportunity to develop the appropriate motor and social skills necessary for everyday life in their surrounding environment. This shows that the development of early motor skills is connected with the development of the immune system.

Indigenous Children - Early Motor Skill Development

Indigenous children don’t acquire and master their jumping and landing skills on bouncy castles and trampolines. They learn motor skills (walking, running, jumping etc.) in the real living environment mostly by being in the company of their older siblings and peers. By learning motor skills, they learn how to survive in their living environment. Along with learning motor skills, they acquire a sense of danger and alertness by exploring their living environments under the reasonable (not reckless and overprotective) supervision of adults.

From their early age till adulthood, indigenous children have an opportunity to develop motor and social skills necessary for everyday life in their surrounding physical and social environment.